1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to certain new and useful improvements in a pipe cover adapted for disposition around pipes under a sink in order to cover same, and more particularly, to a unitary jacket adapted to generally conform to the shape and size of the undersink pipe configuration, to thereby cover same, and where the jacket can be adapted to conform to the shape of the pipe configuration, in the event that the waste arm extends at an acute angle with respect to the J-trap of the undersink pipe configuration.
2. Brief Description of Related Art
In recent years, there has been an increased emphasis in covering undersink pipes, primarily, although not exclusively, to protect those individuals who are wheelchair bound, and who might otherwise roll their wheelchair to a partial undersink position. In this case, the knees and legs of the individual in the wheelchair might otherwise come into contact with a pipe forming part of a pipe configuration. If hot water should be passing through, or have recently passed through that pipe, the individual in the wheelchair would become burned. Moreover, the party in a wheelchair may be less able to extricate himself or herself from that situation as quickly as an ambulatory individual.
In addition to the foregoing, pipe configurations under a sink frequently contain edges, such as edges on pipe nuts and the like and exposed threads, which can actually be injurious to a person who comes into moderately hard contact with such portion of a pipe configuration.
Recently, and at least in the United States, the Americans With Disabilities Act has mandated protection on undersink pipes in certain public buildings, in order to reduce the incidence of this type of injury. As a result, many public buildings are required to have such protection on undersink pipe configurations. As a result, there has been a plethora of undersink protective covers for disposition around the undersink pipe components.
Generally, the undersink pipe configuration includes a J-trap, that is, a pipe section generally having a J-shape, with a pair of vertically arranged legs connected by a U-shaped section. There is also a waste arm which connects to a pipe, usually within a wall structure, and designed to carry waste water which passes through the J-trap and waste arm from the sink. In most cases, the waste arm generally lies in the same plane as the J-trap. However, depending upon the structure of the room involved, the waste arm can extend at an acute angle, with respect to the plane of the J-trap.
There have been several proposed protective jackets in the prior art which are provided in individual components, such as the J-trap cover and a waste arm cover. These covers are comprised of a heat insulative material designed to provide a degree of heat insulation by the jacket, in order to potentially reduce the incidence of burns and abrasive injuries. These jackets are comprised of a first jacket section having a generally J-shaped configuration, and a waste arm jacket having the shape of a waste arm, which is frequently in an L-shape. These jacket sections are designed to be located relative to one another so that they effectively cover the undersink pipe, which carries waste water from the sink to a drain pipe, generally located in a structure beyond the wall, as aforesaid.
Many of these commercially available protective covers for undersink pipe configurations were formed of injection molded plastics. They were longitudinally slit from end to end, so that the jacket could be spread apart and disposed about the pipe. However, the jacket essentially had to have the configuration of the section of pipe about which it was to be fitted. Each of these jackets or covers included pairs of apertures spaced along the longitudinal slit, and were sized to receive fastening means, and particularly, pin-type fasteners.
There are numerous U.S. patents representative of this type of device, and these include U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,730 to Trueb et al., and other related Trueb et al. patents. In this system proposed by Trueb et al., and although the jacket arrangement is initially provided as a unitary piece, it cannot be used in the fashion as shown, but must be separated so that it can properly fit upon an undersink pipe configuration. Also representative of fasteners used for securing edges of a jacket together along a longitudinal slit is the Du Laney U.S. Pat. No. 2,791,019, and the Guskea U.S. Pat. No. 3,914,100.
Another form of pipe cover arrangement is also shown in the Helmsderfer U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,412 and other related patents to Helmsderfer. The applicant of this application also has proposed a unitary pipe cover jacket which is normally formed of a fabric material, as opposed to an injection molded material, as for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,055,334 dated Oct. 8, 1991. However, this pipe cover, although being insulated, was not formed of an injection molded plastic material. As such, it did not spring back around the pipe itself when disposed about the pipe.
There were a number of problems with these prior art protective covers. First of all, they frequently did not fit properly. In many cases, the waste arm extended outwardly away from, and at an angle to, the plane of the J-trap. These prior art covers attempted to make some accommodation, but were not truly effective for that purpose. Secondly, and in the case of the covers disclosed in the Trueb et al. patents, they were frequently installed in an upside down position, and therefore, did not properly fit upon the pipe configuration. Thirdly, and with many of the previously described pipe covers, installers frequently complained about the difficulty in installing the covers. In addition, they were not necessarily vandal proof and could be removed from the pipe arrangement about which they were disposed.
In about the mid-1980s, there was an injection molded pipe cover which had a unitary structure, and which had a shape to fit over the J-trap and the P-trap of an undersink pipe configuration. In effect, this single cover which was also longitudinally slit from end to end, could be opened and resiliently extend back about the pipe configuration. When the waste arm was in the same plane as the J-trap, the pipe cover functioned quite well. However, in many cases, as aforesaid, the waste arm did not extend in the same plane as the J-trap. In those cases, there were attempts to make the pipe cover fit about the jacket because of its resiliency, but it did not properly fit, and in some cases, did not fully enclose the pipe about which it extended. Thus, if the waste arm extended angularly away from the J-trap beyond a relatively small angle, the jacket would not properly fit.
This unitary structure prior art cover or jacket, however, could have been separated in the region where the waste arm would be connected to the J-trap, so that it would form two pieces, essentially in the same manner as that shown in the Trueb et al. patents. However, it did not include suitable means for coupling the two pieces together after they were severed into two pieces from the unitary piece.
Notwithstanding the plethora of heat protective covers which have been offered in the marketplace, there has been a need for a protective cover for disposition around undersink protective pipes, which could be provided as a unitary piece, and severed if necessary, and coupled together about a pipe configuration in a generally tamper proof manner, and which was easy to install and highly efficient in operation.